Play Therapy is a clinically proven approach to therapy, based on developmental principles and a process where the child chooses objects, symbols, or types of play to express their world or work through certain challenges. Up until the age of 10, children’s primary language is play as their prefrontal cortex is not quite developed to the point where connecting emotional and words comes easily. Play Therapy is done with a mental health provider who has been trained to interpret the child’s play and then assist them in promoting growth and change, and that is where we come in.
Play is important to your child’s development because it offers them the opportunity to make sense of their world and helps them rehearse for adult life. Play between a parent and child provides a sense of joining, security and attachment. In Play Therapy, the provider is trained to read the metaphors of the play and observe emerging patterns. The main goals of play therapy, regardless of symptoms, are to help the child build up and practice their coping skills, reach an appropriate level of functioning, and increase their overall self‐esteem. In Play Therapy, the child is able to express unconscious thoughts, fears, frustrations and wishes, etc., which helps them process or resolve “stuck” thoughts and feelings. This often happens in subtle ways, with effects noticed in their daily functioning.
The Play Room is viewed as the child’s “kingdom” where they are free to explore and express themselves in various ways, such as fantasy play, sandplay, puppets and expressive art. The toys and activities are carefully selected to offer an opportunity to engage the child’s imagination and express various feeling states and experiences. For this reason, both symbolically aggressive and passive toys are available for the child to select in their play.
There are four phases to child therapy:
- Engagement Phase: The child explores the environment and tests for limits, and trust is established. This typically requires 3-4 sessions, after which we will meet with parents to discuss some themes we are seeing, check in regarding progress at home and discuss a treatment plan.
- Working Through Phase: At this phase, the child feels safe and has built a relationship with their provider, leading them to reveal and play out underlying issues. A decrease in the child’s functioning may accompany portions of this phase. Depending on the child, this phase may require 10-12 sessions, with parent sessions every 4 sessions for updates and check-ins.
- Therapeutic Growth Phase: The child begins to feel empowered to make better choices, their emotional vocabulary increases and they have a better grasp on earlier concerns. Sessions might titrate down to every other week and typically requires 3-4 sessions to maintain progress.
- Termination Phase: This important phase entails the therapist and child summarizing their time together and preparing to end the relationship. We recommend 2-3 sessions to introduce this idea to the child and ensure the child’s well-being. When termination ends abruptly, it can lead to the child feeling abandoned and can threaten some of the progress they have made. As parents, if you feel you need to terminate therapy early, please speak with your provider to develop the best plan for your child, regarding the termination process.
The play therapy approach works well for children between 2‐to‐14 years of age, generally. The most important factor is that they feel safe and connect well with their provider. Older children may also benefit if it is developmentally fitting. All children are unique in how they move forward in stages of Play Therapy. Length of time depends on the presenting problem and level of family support. For example, longer term work may be necessary for children who have experienced trauma related to death, divorce, accidents, medical trauma and physical or sexual abuse. Many issues indicate a need for more than 20 sessions. Our goal is to equip you and your child and work our way out of a job in the healthiest way possible.
To prepare your child for their first play therapy session, you can tell them they are going to meet a counselor who works and plays with children. Parents want their children to feel safe and may feel inclined to introduce a counselor as a family friend, but this is not recommended. Let them know it will be a safe space for them to play and work on their feelings and assure them you will be nearby the whole time. For the first session, the child will have the choice to bring parents in for the first few minutes until the child feels comfortable.
As a parent, you are very important to your child’s progress, and we strive to collaborate with parents as much as possible. Feel free to text or email your provider with updates, brief questions, or scheduling challenges. They will respond as time allows, Monday through Friday. Because each session is only 50 minutes, we ask that you communicate those updates outside of the session time or during scheduled parent sessions. Parent sessions are critical to your child’s progress and will occur after every four sessions, either in person or virtually.
At Lake Nona Behavioral Health, we are proud to offer child therapy in English or Spanish for children ages 3-14. Susan Dixon, MA has extensive experience working with children with ADHD, anxiety, depression, trauma, autism, selective mutism, and more. Interested in scheduling a free 15-minute consult with Susan? Call 407-808-5773 or click here to contact us now.